Magic against Machine
by poachedpears
Summary: A new evil has arisen and it's not Voldemort. Mechas with magical powers appear. What's happening here? Hermione-centric. HP/GW x-over. Chap 3 Uploaded!
1. Zero

Title: Magic over Machine – RELOAD!

Chapter: 1/11

Chapter title: Zero

Disclaimer: This is a HP x GW x-over done for no money that I really need most. So…Keep those papers to yourself!!! Only Cedric, Zak and all other charac you do not recognize from the above series/ anime is mine!!!

A/N: For those of you who don't know Gundam Wing, It's okay.. You just have to know this: The year is after colony(AC) 195. Gundams are mechas that came from the colonies in space. People live in those colonies. War started on who is the real enemy. Soldiers of the colonies are: Heero Yuy (perfect soldier), Duo Maxwell (joker/ Shinigami), Trowa Barton (Silent clown), Quatre Winner (tea drinking pacifist blond) and Chang Wufei (justice freak). After the war ended (saved by the Gundam pilots) there was another small war on Chrismas day. Then there was relative peace for 23 years until this fic…IF you'v got any qns, just mail me!!! Hirameki out!

"Hmm….what did Flitwick say again about that charm?" Hermione stared at the blurred words of the textbook. Not that she needed to read the book over again, she'd practically memorized it from back to front! 'Okay, now what was that…?'

[beep, beep _You've got mail 'Mione !_]

'I must learn how to get that irritating voice out of my comp!' She reminded herself for the umpteenth time. Though, she was glad to be able to get away from the assignment! 'I'll thank Ced later.' Opening her mail she was greeted with a short vid of a base. She frowned. 10 seconds later the video was filled with static and the message scrolled on. 

"_It appears that Operation _Hei Xing_ has begun. I've already called 03. See if you can find Chang and Barton. 01 out."_

"Operation _Hei Xing_. Black star. We'll have to wait how it develops to be…" Hermione murmured. "Eh? It's 1 am already? Time to get to work."

The full moon revealed a black silhouette silently drifting down the corridor. The person looked around as if taking her bearings. She stopped at a door listening for the breathing of the room's occupants. Two different rhythms, one quicker than the other, surfaced in the stillness of the night. She turned about face toward her intended destination.

The place was unremarkable, the door being about the same bland beige as the others. Sliding out the keypad a red light appeared at the side. Cautiously she typed in the memorized code. The red light flickered to a brilliant green. She allowed a sigh of relief to escape before she entered the room. Mounting the station, she put on the helmet and waited for the simulation to begin.

The damp darkness of the helmet reminded her of the many times she had tried to go into a simulation battle with her gundam and the System. Her gundam, her long time friend, her weapon as her father had said… _No! She cannot be distracted now!_ She had to win this! The darkness is now dimly lit with a single blinking cursor. The words scrolled on.

[[Simulation begin.]]

[[ Mission : DESTROY SE BASE. ELIMINATE ANY INTERFERANCE]]

[[ Time limit: 10 min]]

[[ Zero System: ONLINE]]

"Mission accepted." She murmured as a habit. The words blinked out and the darkness returned. A green grid map appeared on the screen and the clock counted down. '_Mission start._'

A quick look at the compass told her that she was too far north. She headed for the base. It took her about three minutes to reach with the 5 km radius of the base. As expected, the Gundam was surrounded by enemy fire having anticipated her arrival. She took an erratic path avoiding the bullets, trusting her reinforced gundanium armor to hold off any fire that just so happened to hit her.

'Che they had to interrupt.' She growled mentally. Without bothering to aim, she fired her Gatling guns in their vague directions. The many explosions preceding the fire told her she had been on target. She smirked at the small victory.

She entered the billowing smoke of her attack effectively making hr invisible to the enemy. Quickly approaching the nearest Mobile Suit, she cut it with her beam sword. This alerted the others to her position. She allowed them to come.

Gone unnoticed by her, the greenish background of the cockpit had given way to a dull orange. She had time to wonder the light mist that had set upon her, blurring her view when she heard a voice.

"Hermione!" She turned toward the direction of it. "Hermione, come back!" the voice cried out. Ron stood in front of her holding out his wand. She felt her body move, bringing up the beam cannon toward him. She felt her finger pull the trigger and she did nothing to stop it. Her body did not respond to her frantic mental protests. The beam of power shot out of the barrel hitting Ron right in the center, splashing warm sticky fluid all over.

Then she saw her father, coming from behind Ron, then Fred, George, and… Malfoy? She heard their taunting. _'How could you!' 'You don't belong here!' 'You're not worthy as a witch!' 'Go away!' 'You're such a know-it all!' 'I hate you, Hermione!'_

That last comment was given by a bloodstained Ron. The menace in his voice was barely masked. "No! I don't believe you all!" She clamped her hands on her ears in attempt to block out the voices, the pain. "_Dame_! You know I'm not like that, right! Fred, Ron, Father?" She begged wanting to escape the taunting. The voices in her head was too loud, she almost missed the other that tried to call her too. 

__

'…Hermione…mione…herMIONE!!! Are you listening to me girl? This is not real. They're not real. Well, may be from Malfoy but that is beyond the point. You still have a mission to do!'

"But they… I just k– k- killed Ron! He won't…" She stuttered out

__

"Think girl! Where is the clever Gryffindor you've always prided yourself in? Who gave the last comment?' Realization dawned upon her. _'Right, now you've got to believe in yourself. Go on. Remember the mission, You cannot fail, as failure is death! You have five minutes left.'_

The misty veil over her eyes cleared as she shot the approaching MS. Unlike what her mind conveyed, she was not shooting the smirking Malfoy but an unfortunate Taurus. Suddenly she was regretful it wasn't the irritating Slytherin she just shot. Oh well, another target for another day.

She began decimating the oncoming MSs with ruthless efficiency. Soon enough the crowd had thinned. Planting a grenade in the middle of the group of surrounding suits, she fired her rockets. The Grenade exploded three seconds after she left them. The group disappeared in a flash of heat and light.

She went on to do the intended mission: destroy the base. Powering up her beam cannon to full power, she shot the base. The beam of energy planted itself in the heart of the base, breaking in waves of energy that made the area a burning inferno. The explosion that occurred next almost threw her off her seat. "_Ninmu kanryu_." She muttered.

[[MISSION COMPLETE]]

[[SIMULATION END]]

The green light of the simulator dimmed out to give back the darkness from before. She taking off the helmet, she shook free her damp hair. She gave herself the luxury of relaxing in the sim. Her body shook slightly at the adrenaline let down. Inhaling deeply before exhaling quickly. In the darkness she saw a silver of light penetrating the heavy darkness. The moon behind the two figures hid their features.

"…mione! Hermione! Oh god! Answer me!" A female voice called out for her. "Heero! If She's going to try to kill herself again you'll be spending the rest of your life on the couch!" Her mother was there. Her mother: Relena Peacecraft Yuy/Granger. Ex-Foreign Prime Minister of the unified Earth and a dentist was worrying her hair off for her daughter.

"You finally did it, Hanako. You did it." A deeper voice came from the other. Her father: Heero Yuy/Granger. Ex-gundam pilot, the silent and emotionless soldier, barely hid his pride for his daughter: Hermione Hanako Yuy/Granger.

TBC

A/N: It's Magic over machine Reload! Renewed! Revamped. Hopefully more entertaining than the last one! There are more magical happenings in this edition than the last one! Feel free to comment, flame, owl, mallet me, chase after me with a sharp javelin! 


	2. The Call

Title: Magic over Machine (GWxHP x-over)

Written: 29/6/2002

Author: Scichan Hirameki

Part: 2/?

Chapter title: The Call

Warning: Everything spoken at the Chang Residence is in Chinese. The rest is in English unless stated by {...} which is in Chinese. This is a very tedious not too long chapter. I got tired just by re-reading it! 

Disclaimer: The GW and HP characters do NOT belong to me. The extras do...

[Beep..Beep..Beep..Beep]

"Damn clock," I said out loud. my hand shot up, grappling for it. It found nothing. "Wha...?" I slurred. After a few more attempts, I gave up. I took out my gun from underneath my pillow.

[BANG!]

The irritating beeping ended. 'Ah! Now to sleep some more....zzzz' Peace. After what was seconds to me, I felt somebody poking me at the side. Poke...poke. "Leave me alone..." I tried to say, hearing it coming out like 'lee ee aoone'. Poke...poke...Now I was pissed.

"For the sake of Justice, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" I shouted out to the phantom person while sitting up. All my sleep gone at this point. A small squeak of "Ahhh!" directed me to the intruder. A flash of light brown hair told me that it was my little sister. My anger left me immediately.

Her head poked out. She looked down and murmured, or rather rambled, out, "Jie jie, Dad told me to tell you to wake up. But you shot your alarm clock again. So he told me to find another way to wake you up. But then..."

"Li Yan, okay. It's okay. I'm awake now. Thank you. Tell Dad that I'll be down soon." I reassured her. I feel sorry for her. Being only 9 years old and already subjected to dad's mental pounding of _'Weaklings'_ and that like, no wonder she has such low self-esteem. I noticed that she was hugging something tightly.

"Jie jie, he also said that today you're doing extra rounds around the block and can spar with him later. Then he said something about beating him and a _zero_ system. What is that anyway?" Li Yan asked.

I was stunned. How was I supposed to answer her? As far as I know, Only my younger brother and I had been trained. And my brother, well... After what happened to Fei Ying, Mother forbid Father to train Li Yan. After all that she has gone through, and from personal experience, If Father trained Li Yan, I'll personally extract his liver from that too-full ass of his and probably his brain through his ear. There are some things that are better left out.

I shook my head. "Next time, Li Yan." Hoping to distract her from the subject, I asked. "What's that you're holding?"

"This?" She asked, loosening her hold. I saw my missing book, not that I miss it much really. I don't really think that reading about my own school is fun, not that Hogwarts is not fun, the book's just _boring_. "_Hogwarts: A History_. I found it among your old school books. It looked new, as if you never read it before." Her voice faded as she smiled meekly.

"You like it?" I asked incredulously. Her smile grew wider.

"YES! I like it very much! Especially about the roof and the maze of rooms and the staircases of Hogwarts!" Li Yan practically shouted. I smiled back at her. I didn't know she liked it THAT much. The only other person, I know, that actually reads it is Granger. _That bitchy stick-in-the-ass Gryffindor!_ I saw that Li Yan hugged the book like it was her favorite teddy or something. 

"You can keep it," I said patting her on her head. She smiled and said a hurried 'Thank You!' before exiting the room. I shook my head and got ready for the busy day ahead.

^^^^^^^^

"Hermione. Listen, Today we are going to test your endurance. Run around the track, pacing yourself at 5 m/s for 15 mins then work it up to 7 m/s for another 15 mins then go back to 5 m/s for 10 mins then stop. 50 sit-up and 45 pull-ups. Complete them in 15 mins. Then you can have your break." Heero said glancing at his daughter. 

Hermoine's normally bushy hair was now pulled back in a ponytail. She had a determined look on her face, similar to that of Relena's. It comes as no surprise as she takes a lot from her. At least Hermione can cook decent food. Relena just needs to have more practice... Hermione just nodded. He heard her mutter _'Ninmu Ryokai'_ under her breath. He got his stopwatch ready.

"1,2,3!" The clock ticked. Hermione jogged off. Careful to pace herself to the correct speed. Round and round again, she went. Heero just watched, his face showing nothing but his eyes showing the pride he felt. He knew that Hanako could do better. After all, She had been training since 5. Her body turning out to be more toned, slender than muscular. Good for a girl.

"15 mins! Speed up!" The clocked just ticked by. Heero remembered the time when Hermione had been born. She'd been so small, looking more like Relena than him. Relena wanted to name her 'Hermione' but he wanted 'Hanako'. In the end they put both names on the Birth Certificate. He remembered the time when Hanako said her first words:' Ninmu Ryokai'. Relena had smacked him for speaking the words too much. Come on! It was just to do the chores only, right? Okay facing a new day to check teeth wasn't exactly what he wanted to do after the Wars.

Both Relena and him decided to go into hiding, residing in the UK under the name Granger. They wanted to hide not only from the paparazzi but also from the enemies that either he or Relena might've gotten during the wars. Only the other pilots knew about his new identity. Never did he lose his soldier's habits, waking up early in the morning, doing his workouts and target practice regularly. _But_ when it comes to changing a baby in the middle of the night, it's better to be deaf and ignore it. 

Then the time came when Hermione showed her magical powers. Everything around her was levitated and when he got near her, his hair turned neon blue not to mention his skin turned bright orange! Hanako just gave him a two-toothed laugh. Thank god, it was temporary.

Unlucky for him, Duo came visiting that day. He had laughed his ass off before reaching a small snigger everytime he looked at Heero's hair. Duo had said something about his child doing about the same, only that about half of his braid came off! The damned braid of his was getting to be about 4 feet long anyway! 

Hanako loved books, always wanting read more. Being very intelligent and ready to accept any challenges, she's more like him that way. _I'm so proud of her!_

[Teet! Teet!]

"15 mins! Slow your pace!" Hermione was visibly sweating having a shiny sheen on her face. But determination never ceased. Her face now emotionless. She just continued to jog.

When she passed him, he jogged together with her. Checking both of their paces. "Speed up. You're too slow." That was said and both of them continued in perfect sync. None said a word as both jogged. 

A few minutes later, Relena came in with some drinks. she just smiled wryly. Not noting for the first time how similar they both looked in tank tops and track pants. _Thank god Heero got rid of those spandex pants! Not that I'm complaining._

[Teet! Teet!]

That signaled the end of the first part of the workout. Both slowed down reaching the starting point. Both reached for the drinks. "Heero," Relena said, shaking her head. At 35, he's still the quiet soldier but is more open with his feelings than before. It is still difficult to know when he was lying though. Hermione drank a bit, not wanting to not being able to do the last two exercises.

"Hi Mum! Slow day?" Hermione asked, smiling a bit.

"No, I didn't go to the clinic today."

"Ready Hanako?" Heero intervened before Hermione could loose concentration.

^^^^^^^^

"Really Heero, You're pushing her too much. Together with her studies at Hogwarts, how she can find time to train is a mystery to me." Relena said, gripping the spatula she held.

"Hn. She's coping well, finishing top of her level every year." Heero said, warming his hands with his coffee cup.

"But there would be a time when she'd..."

"It's okay. Learn to trust your daughter. Have more confidence in her, Rel. She's not the young, fragile bookworm anymore." Heero took Relena into his arms, kissing her forehead lightly. "She'll be okay." he walked out of the kitchen, stating his ultimatum. Just then, Hermione walked in.

"Hey mum! Need help with lunch?"

^^^^^^^^

[Ring! Ring! Ring!]

"Hello!" Relena answered. "Oh. Hello Wufei. How are you doing?...Huh? Heero? I'll go get him..." She covered the receiver. "Heero!!! Phone for you!" Heero shouted an 'Okay!' from upstairs. She put down the phone.

"Hello..."

^^^^^^^^

"Yuy. The Preventers have an assignment for you." Wufei started.

"It's Granger now, Wufei. And I've gone off to a new life. The Preventers have no hold on to me now."

"Wow, you can talk that much now? I'm surprised."

"Hn. It's surprising what living with two females can do to you, Wufei."

"I can imagine."

"Yeah. Now cut the crap and tell me what's going on." He could almost hear Wufei smiling.

"Une just gave me a call. Emergency for the ex-gundam pilots. Says that someone has threatened to destroy one of the colonies. It wasn't a hoax. A search of the said colony found many explosives and a strange substance."

"Why is it always that? What else?"

"The Preventers have noticed an abnormally large amount of titanium being shipped to various parts of the Earth: America, Middle East, somewhere in Southeast Asia and lastly in UK. And get this, there is a rumour that reinforced gundanium is being shipped to somewhere around Europe."

"Gundanium? Could the scientists be behind all this?"

"I hardly think so. Une has tracked down the phone call but came up with a dead end. She wants you to do a recon of the colonies with some Preventers to make sure that nothing out of order is happening."

"Really." Sarcasm rolling off Heero's tongue. "What about the others?"

"Winner would do the one in the Middle East. Barton in Asia and Maxwell at the US. Seems like the US one is a blind. But still she wants it checked out. Unless, you want Maxwell as a partner..."

"No! I could use without his incessant babbling! What about you?"

"Me? I'll be doing the one in UK, since I live the nearest."

"When will we be departing?"

"The onna says as soon as possible, tomorrow at 0900. Meet her at the Preventer HQ so she can give you guys the coordinates."

"Ryokai"

^^^^^^^^

[RING! Ring!!]

"Hello?" Relena answered.

"Hello, Relena, Hope I'm not disturbing you. It's been a long time since I last talked to you." The voice over the phone answered.

"Sally? Is that you? No, you're not interrupting anything. How...?"

"Sorry, Relena. As much as I'd like to chat, I'm in a hurry."

"Anything I can help with?"

"I have to rush off to Preventer HQ and Wufei would be out for an indefinite length of time. My girls need a place to stay. They all would be starting school soon, just two more weeks. I overheard you stay quite close..." her voice coming out quickly.

"Whoa! Sally! Relax a bit. Yes, we'd welcome your girls if they need a place to stay."

"Thanks Rel. I'll be sending the girls by the Underground. Is it okay?"

"That's fine. You just go to..." She gave the directions and where to wait for her in case she was late.

"Got that. Do you mind? My eldest daughter is a bit ...strange. You don't mind having animals around your house do you?"

"No, I don't"

"Okay then. The girls will be heading down via the Tube. They'll see you there." Sally hurried.

"That'll be fine."

"Thanks again, Relena." Sally hung up in a hurry leaving Relena deep in thought.

^^^^^^^^

"Girls! Get down here!" Sally shouted up. Moments later, she heard footsteps pitter-pattering down the stairs.

"Yes, mum?" Her eldest asked.

"I have to go work urgently and your father won't be home. I don't like having you girls alone at home, so I asked a friend to take you in for a while."

"Mother! I'm 16! I can take care of myself! After all, school starts in two weeks and I'll be meeting my friends at Diagon Alley to buy my books next week."

"Can you take care of your little sister too?"

"..."

"There. My friend should allow you to go to London to get your books. You can owl your friends if you cannot. Now since I have to rush, I want you guys to go and pack. You need to travel a bit so I'll be giving you the money later, okay?"

"...'Kay..." Both exited the room.

"Li Yan, come here. I need to talk to you." Li Yan turned to address her mother. "I don't know how long I'll be gone this time. So you'll have to be strong okay?" Li Yan's eyes grew bigger. "Don't let others bully you. Remember the time you threw Ge-Ge off the fighting mat?" Li Yan smiled.

"He He! Ge-Ge looked so surprised!"

"Right. So from now on, just remember how you got the strength and courage and keep it, okay?"

"Un!" She nodded.

^^^^^^^^

Relena stood anxiously at the station entrance. Not that she was worried about the Chang children, just that a sudden departure of both Wufei and Heero, and now Sally, was worrying. She was worried about the precious peace that she and the others had done so much for shatter in single blow of explosives, innocent lives being lost. She thought that the Preventers could do something to stop the imminent threat but to need both Heero's and Wufei's help was...well, worrying!

She felt a tap on her back. "Huh?" She thought. A girl, Chinese with black hair and beautiful sky blue eyes stood behind her. "Are you Mrs. Yuy?" She asked, smiling.

"Yes, yes I am. Are you Chang Cho?" The girl smiled wryly and nodded. "I hope your journey went well?"

"It was okay. Do you understand Chinese?" Relena nodded. "{Li Yan, come and meet Mrs. Yuy.}" Cho said as she pulled on a smaller hand. Another girl came from behind her. She had dark blond hair with black eyes. Relena leaned down.

"{Hi there! I'm Mrs. Yuy. But you can call me RiRi. What's your name?}" She saw the girl visibly relax. _'Such defensiveness in a child so young. I wonder what happened?'_

"{Li Yan. I'm Li Yan. Are you going to take care of Jie-jie and me while mother is out for work?}"

"{Yes, I am. Until you go to school, you'll be living with me.}" Li Yan's face lit up with a smile. "{Let's go and see my house and see how you like it, ne?}"

"Un!" Li Yan nodded. Cho just smiled.

TBC...

Quick Chinese/ Japanese dictionary:

Ninmu Ryokai: Mission accepted! (What Heero always says)

Ryokai: Accepted/ Roger

Onna: Woman (Wufei's line)

Jie-jie: Elder Sister (Chinese)

Ge-Ge: Elder Brother (Chinese)

A/N: There! Slightly re-written! Yes! Cho Chang is involved! And the plot thickens! What will happen next? See you all!


	3. Rivalry

Title: Magic over Machine

Chapter: 3/11

Chapter title: Rivalry

Disclaimer: THEY BELONG TO ME!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! _Aw! Shut up Hira!! Sorry She's on one of her insanity strikes again. GW and HP do not belong to her. Any original characters are mine! _What do you mean about that?!? _Technically I though up about them so they're mine!sticks out tongue_ Why you…. Come back here Yuko!

From the diary of Hermione Granger:

_It was already night when the guests arrived. I had learnt that this is the Chang children, one of the people that neither Zak, Ced nor I had been able to track. Funny that I learnt the family just moves around much and they never did change their name. Infuriating isn't it? Now where was I, oh the children!_

I first met a young blonde girl, younger than 10 at least. Her name is Li Yan, cute little bugger whose face reminded me of someone. She's really hyperactive as if someone had put a permanent cheering charm on her! She practically jumped around the living room bouncing around, looking into each room with the curiosity only a child can have. A real child…(sighs)

Then the other came in. I couldn't believe it! Neither could she, I think. I can still remember it now: "Granger, how lovely to see you!" sarcasm rolled out on that Chinese-accented voice of hers! Cho Chang, how I'd love to take the overgrown head of hers into a dissolution potion! Pity Harry still fancies her. Both of us had gone into a staring match before Li Yan interrupted us. Then mum came in. No matter what I have to talk to her royal bitchness. The time draws nearer. Good night.

^^^^^^^^

'Ah Crap! Just what I need! I midnight errand from the cursed Durselys!' Harry thought. The Durselys have become more vindictive about their idea of 'taking care' of Harry Potter. The balmy night air of summer suddenly gave a cool breeze. All thoughts about the Durselys disappeared. With the rising of Voldemort, he had kept his wand at bay, planning only to use in emergencies.

The calming sound of crickets silenced, for that moment nothing was heard, only his footsteps crunching the gravel of the walk. The slight rustle of leaves made him fall into red alert, but he walked just as if he never noticed a thing. The attack came fast and furious, a heavy weight fell onto him. He's glasses were knocked off as he struggled at the snarling, drooling sharp-toothed _thing_ on him. 

He gave the other a brutal kick to his soft abdomen. It recoiled immediately, giving him time to escape. As he crawled back, a silhouette appeared in front of him, a bright blue blur came rushing to him. _A spell!_ His mind thought, but his weary body reacted slowly. The spell hit him dead on, and then darkness took him.

^^^^^^^^

Hermione woke up late that morning: at 7 am. (Normally she woke up at 6) As she headed down to the training room, she heard the sounds of someone already deep into her morning exercises. It was either in the middle or almost ending of the exercises. As she rounded around the corner, the bushy-haired brunette saw the only other dark-haired occupant of the house: Cho Chang. 

Annoyance ran up her back. But there was nothing to be hated about the other now. Now there was no academic results to fight about, no guys to fight over and no competition about being the best. It was ironic that the competition for the BEST results, even if they are in different years, is between _mudbloods_. 

As she watched the katas being done, she could only be enraptured at the grace the other had. Every movement, every kick and punch had a meaning, It was almost like watching a solo dance. As Cho moved into her third movement, she snapped out of the trance. She went ahead to do her own sets of exercises.

Side by side the both of them finished their sets, though Cho finished much faster than Hermione did. Cho watched the hurried movements of Hermione, the sharpness in them looked to be one of agitation. When the other finished, she asked from across the room.

"I sense that you need to ask me something."

"You keep your divination 'skills' to yourself!" Hermione cried back. Cho just looked at her questioningly, waiting for the answer. Hermione stayed mum returning back a deathglare. 

"Well then, keep your questions to yourself. Nothing of any importance it seems," Cho said as she rolled her eyes. She was done for the meantime, there seem to be a busy day ahead of her. '_I've got some revisions to do on the blue prints._'

__

'That goddamn know-it-all! Argh! I really don't feel like making her an ally. ALLY? Chang? Of all the Changs on the world why must it be this Chang!!!' Hermione rambled to herself.

^^^^^^^^

It is well known in Hogwarts that Hermione's favourite haunt is the Library. Cho being a ravenclaw had spent many a time there too. That was where the rivalry started. As you would see Cho at the library surrounded by books and pieces of parchment, chewing on her quill deep in thought, Relena found Cho at the study table pouring over some books. She smiled as she knocked lightly at the open door.

"Ahem! Cho, I'm going to the clinic today. If you need anything, just ask Hermione." She said lightly at the startled girl. Cho smiled and said thank you at the retreating back of Mrs Yuy. She signed off the letter she was writing (with a pen! Muggle inventions are so much easier sometimes!). 

"She almost startled me! Done, now to send this to Him. _Lingshi_! I need your help now!" A gust of wind signalled the arrival of her beloved owl. The owl was huge and strangely dark blue, almost midnight. "{Lingshi, I need you to take this to Him.}" The owl gave her questioning look. "{You know who I mean!! Don't act dumb! Here. Some bread to give you energy for the journey. Fly safely my friend.}" The owl flapped the giant wings of his and flew into the daylight.

Outside, Hermione was playing tag with Li Yan. The little girl was really energetic and had almost outrun her sometimes. At that time when the bird-like shadow fell over them, Hermione was about to tag the small blonde.

"Hah! Tag! Now my turn…" She never finished her sentence when the little girl took flight…_literally_! The girl had grown wings, white and translucent. She flew up like it was the most natural thing to do! "What the…?" Hermione may be a witch but this she had never seen before! Never had she read about wandless magic this strong other than Harry's job with You-Know-Who! She pricked up her ears to the sky.

"{Hey, Lingshi! Going away again?}" Li Yan asked the flying owl. She ruffled the feathers in his head and said, "{Okay but take care okay? I don't want to see you hurt again.}" The owl sped off towards the horizon. 

The flying little girl smiled and waved at the tiny figure of her adopted Jie Jie. Hermione found herself waving back. Flapping her wings she dipped quickly below to the open window of Cho's room. Hermione shrugged, but quickly went towards Cho's room to get a closer view of Li Yan.

"{Sister!}" Li Yan called out.

"Hm?" She suddenly gasped to cover the loose pieces of paper. Unfortunately, the sudden rush of air made some fly. "Li Yan!!!"

"Hi ya Jie!"

"Hey now, come inside. We're not at home, remember? What if someone see you, like Granger?" She said reaching out for her winged sister. 'I really hope nobody did see you, if not, I'll the one who'll be in trouble!' The Li Yan's voice piped up.

"Hello Hermione- jie jie! How was I?" But Hermione wasn't looking towards the duo. Her attention was toward the pieces of paper on the floor. Cho widened her eyes in horror. '_Oh no_ …'

"Chang these are… sketches…and power controls of a Gundam!" Hermione said softly. She looked up at Cho, whose eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates. Li Yan was looking blankly at them. Quickly Cho grabbed the other pieces of paper. Her Ravenclaw side took over her panic.

Staring into the other's eyes, she quickly mouthed out, "Not in front of Li Yan." Hermione nodded. She helped Cho gather the other pieces of paper. 

"Hey, Li Yan. How did you do those wings anyway?" Hermione asked.

"These?" Li Yan asked. The wings that disappeared reappeared, now clearer in the relative dark of the room. "I've always had them. Why?"

"Hm…At least we'll know that you'll go to Hogwarts like your sister now. Remember, you should not use any magic outside in the normal world. They do not understand these things."

"But I understand." 

"{Li Yan, Just promise me that you wouldn't use these powers recklessly.}" Cho asked.

"{I promise.}"

^^^^^^^^

Past lunch, the sky had turned a dark and menacing gray. Cho herded Li Yan inside the house, just in time for the downpour. Li Yan was sent to take a bath. (She was soaked to the bone!). Cho took the opportunity to look for Granger, 

The large house looked relatively empty with Granger or Yuy was nowhere to be seen. As she meandered down the many (darkened) corridors of the house she realised that she was lost! Looking at the featureless walls, she pricked her ears. She could slightly discern the sound of --- _a gunshot_!

Quickly she dodged it, hiding behind a corner turn. Two more shots came her way. From the corner she could see the slight silhouette of her assailant. Another barrage of shots made her retreat back. _'Shit! Does the person ever reload?!?_'

Lightning struck near the house, brightening the corridors. She took a quick peek and saw the retreating figure. '_Granger_…' She thought as her eyes narrowed dangerously. '_That bitch_…'

Silently she rushed forward only to find Granger going into a room. "I'll give her a piece if my mind…." 

The door, she found, was locked with a password. '_A six-digit numerical password, with only three tries_. _Too Easy…' _Instinctively she inputted in the numbers. '_625097'_, The door opened to a dark cavern. She took a small step in. '_No traps or anything_?' She took another step in. The small pitter-pattering of someone running came from behind her. Before she could do anything, she was pushed in and the room was enveloped in darkness.

^^^^^^^^

Heero surveyed the colony. This was his 7th. So far nothing much had shown up. The other Preventers, supposedly should be with him, were surveying other parts of the colony. 'Suspicious? What do they really mean by that anyway?'

After 7 of these damn space contraptions in about 12 bloody hours, even the perfect soldier was tired. Hey, he's not 15 anymore! And then the facts had been incorrect again. And the new recruits into Preventers...practically worshipped him! But so many things had changed. they are now building an L6 to accommodate the rising population after the wars. The first five having been filled to the brim. His team had decided to check L4 first since that was where the first call had originated. 

'Should check L6. Most likely its there they might strike first. The others should be checking in by now.' Sure enough, his communicator started crackling.

Crackle... Area 6 clear... 'North'

Area 7 clear 'Engine room'

Area 5 clear 'polar units'

Area 1 clear, Sir! Did I do well, sir? 'Damned kid...Southern area'

The announcements continued. He mentally ticked off the areas cleared. Everything checked out. Now they had to move on. 'Next colony...' Heero thought. he did an overview of the colonies again. Nothing out of the ordinary, again, Hacked, again. Nothing. Again. He was beginning to think that the proper information had bee magically erased. "That's stupid. Wizards and witches don't bother with us muggles, as Hanako said, or our 'muggle contraptions'" he mumbled. He was deep in thought when his radio crackled in.

Sir, area 2 here. I found something. Funny, it wasn't there before... And there's.. What the hell?!?

"Area 2! Come in!"

...snap, crackle n pop... Silence. He heard an intelligible word being muttered, too faint to be clear. And then...

Ahh!!!... Screams of absolute pain cried out. The gross sounds of bone being snapped, joints dislocated, and the gurgling of blood was heard.

"What the..." The emergency was real now. He gathered his things. Grabbing the radio, he ordered the preventers at area 3-5 to aid the preventer at area 2. "Scramble!" He shouted to the radio.

...crackle...Heh heh heh... the spine chilling laughter rang through. 'Run' a thought came to his mind. 'Run to the right.' Another laugh rang, this time, in his head. He suddenly felt a pull at his navel, a queasy feeling went through him and the world disappeared in a swirl of black...

TBC

A/n: This chappie is supposed to focus on the rivalry between Hermie and Cho. Comments and reviews please! I'll accept flames(if they are any!)

Sophie W. : Thanks!^^ You've made my day! Btw, Harry and Ron are involved. Draco is too but I have other ideas for him...[Evil look] Ja na!


	4. surprises

Magic over machine

Part 4/11

Chapter title: Surprises

Disclaimer: nope, dun belong to me 'cept those you see are originals!

Warnings: OC, pilot bashings (especially Wufei) erm…. Anymore?

The figure entered the room, footsteps lightly stepping on the marble floor. Hermione looked at the newcomer who promptly gave a nod holding up a key. She pocketed the said key. The other disapperated leaving her alone in the kitchen. Li Yan entered the room, Crookshanks following her from behind.

"Where's _jie jie_?" The 9 year old asked. Hermione shrugged showing her indifference. Li Yan pulled her Hermione's shorts and repeated her question. 

"Li Yan, have you tried looking around the house?" Li Yan shook her head. "Hmm… Okay, I'll finish the dishes and then we'll go and find your sister okay?" The girl nodded. As she wiped her hands, she reached for a sweet. "Want a sweet?" The little girl accepted eagerly. 

As they passed the guest rooms, Li Yan started yawning. Hermione started her countdown. "3,2,1…." A resounding thump was heard behind her as Li Yan, laid slumped on the floor. She picked up the sleeping girl and laid her on one of the beds. "Sorry Li Yan, this is for your own good. After all, your sister would kill me if I ever told you about _them_." With that, she walked out.

^^^^^^^^^^

"…sane! What if he …" A voice traveled into his head.

'Ouch…' Quatre thought, bringing up his hand to rub his sore head. He remembered being at the vicinity of the Middle East Base. Then somebody had approached him, a dark cloaked man, and then he fell unconscious. He knew that the Middle East had been dangerous since the beginning of time but a cloaked man… Similar to the clothes that Zaki wore. How did that guy enter the place where he was? For that matter, how did he even get pass Rashid and the others?!?

"…Risks. Too much done to stop now!" A different voice came this time. Quatre tried to peer through the darkened, having only the bluish glow from the 'bars'. He could see that the room was small and featureless. 'Typical of all prison rooms. At least they don't have chains and torture equipment here.' He thought cynically. Across from his cell, he could see a silhouette of another prisoner, lying slump against the corner of the room. 'Too dark to see…' Quatre thought.

The silence in his mind brought him the sounds of footsteps. Soft and even. An almost negligible echo followed. 'Two guards only.' Then a small shuffling sound reached his ears. 'Sounds like somebody is being dragged.' He thought. He tried to listen to the strange conversation.

"This guy, what's his name? Fly? Flue? Anyway does he even know what exactly is he doing?" the first voice asked.

"It's Fauzy. He knows. He has the resources to do it." That opening of a door was heard and a fall of a body. "Urg! What he really wants to do should be clear to you now. By the way, no discrimination against us wizards sounds quite good…" The second voice said.

"Wizards?!? Quatre unknowingly said out loud. The two people were in front of his cell now. 'Shimatta!' he thought. One of the wizards pointed something at him. There was a bright flash of light and then darkness.

^^^^^^^^^^

Cho stared at the control panel in front of her. She had woken up to find herself there. 'When I find that bloody arsehole of a Gryffindor, I'll kill her, after I disembowel her!' After many murmurings of 'injustice' she shut up realising her situation.

"Right…. So now what?" Taking hold of the two handles, she waited. The darkened screen brightened slightly with a rectangular cursor.

[MISSION: DESTROY 2 SATELLITE CAMPS IN EARTH'S ORBIT.

ELIMINATE ANY INTERFERENCE.

TIME: 20MINS.]

The screen darkened before revealing a green grid screen. "So, Mission start…" Cho murmured. 

^^^^^^^^

Hermione watched the progress of the Ravenclaw noting the several moves the girl did. 'Sharp. She's done this before…." She commented as the girl destroyed five suits at the same time. She had programmed the sim to be like Cho's gundam. She found the stats in Cho's room and promptly 'borrowed' it.

The older girl was well into her mission when Hermione decided to make it even more interesting. "Activating _zero system_…" She muttered, laughing sadistically. The screen in front of her gave an orange tint. The sim cockpit she was sitting in darkened as she entered Cho's simulated battlefield.

^^^^^^^^

Quatre opened his eyes, expecting the darkness of the night. 'Stupid thing I did. My head is still throbbing. I'm really getting too old for this.' He looked around. There was a small candle that somehow seemed to give out more light than it should. He could see a dim silhouette of his neighbour. It was moving around, his space heart told him that his neighbour was anxious. 'Of course, who wouldn't be, in prison?' he asked himself. The ringing in his ear prevented him from hearing the other's murmuring. 

"Who…?" he tried to say something but his mouth felt full of cotton wool. 

"Well, looky who decided to finally wake up! Q-man! We've been waiting for you!"

"Duo?" He tried again, this time it came out more coherent.

"You better rest off, Winner. I heard the spell they used on you. Quite a strong one." Another familiar voice: Wufei.

"Hn? Oh that. I'll be okay. After all the spells that Zaki tried on me, you'd think I'll be immune to some! Anyway, how did you know about it? The spell I mean," Quatre said trying to look towards the origin of the sound.

"My eldest daughter keeps her books around. I was awake when they cast the spell on you. Simple but effective." said Wufei.

"I heard that they were wizards…" Duo started.

"No wonder I didn't find anything about them. Just traces." Another voice joined in.

"Hee-chan! Nice to meet you to!" Duo cried from his cell. Quatre could see that Heero's cell was right beside Duo's.

"Those wizards were being complacent. Fact that Wufei and I were awake When they continued to talk meant that they are really not soldiers." Duo said. Wufei noticed Heero looking around for something.

"Don't need to worry about cameras. They don't have any. I checked." Said Wufei. 

"Hn." Answered Heero. 

"So you're going to fill us in with the details or what, Duo?" A voice drifted from the darkness.

"Argh! Trowa!" Duo screamed. Wufei could hear Trowa chuckle. "Don't do that!"

"This is bad. All five of us captured. I've hoped someone would be free to tell Une. But then muggles like us wouldn't have a chance against dark wizards." Heero observed. He got closer to the blue 'bars' careful not to touch it. His eyes were used to the darkness. He saw that Wufei was right across from him, Duo was right beside him and Quatre was beside Wufei. Trowa was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Tro! Any increase of bullets in Heavyarms lately?" Duo called into the darkness. An answering finger from around the corner signaled that it was Trowa across to the left of Heero. 

"I don't understand about these wizards you're talking about?" Trowa asked. Duo looked Trowa, or in his vague direction.

"You don't know anything about them?" Trowa shook his head.

"Well, since we're in this already, might as well tell you." Duo took a deep breath. "In this world there are two types of human, magical and muggles. We are muggles, non-magic people. They have many powers that we don't have. For example, when my son showed his powers, it was weird. Therefore many people don't accept him, his type of people. They make them as outcasts, persecute them. Thus the magical people keep their identity as a secret; though some are really bad at it…They don't care about us muggles or our technology. They have their own." Duo chuckled at a memory. Trowa nodded in comprehension. 

"Isn't it weird? They are wizards yet the base I was sent to, had some MS." Quatre said. Duo nodded. 

"Is there some kind of muggle involved?" Trowa asked. 

"Don't know. I didn't get many leads." Heero said, regretting his failure. 

"They should have. They need engineers to build those MS." Wufei said. 

"I hate to say this, guys. But if we are here, captured, who would stop them if they attack?" The other ex-pilots were quiet as they knew the answer already.

^^^^^^^^

Hermione stepped out of the room, euphoric about entering the zero system again. 'More like dizzy,' she thought as she tried to get her blurred vision into place. She had checked the other girl at the other sim. "Heh, I won this time… now to check on her..." The vitla stats from the control room maybe accurate, but it was now way to check the psychological well-being of the person.

As she opened the door thought with a smirk, 'Stupid of her not checking the door first.' The door hadn't been locked in the first place. She was greeted with a completely normal Cho Chang. Yep, the seething, maddened, almost frothing in the mouth look on her face was perfectly normal. Pity, this wasn't Hogwarts, then both of them could indulge in another duel, a magical one that is. 

"Hello Chang, Had a good time?" She asked, a sly smirk on her face. Yep she was enjoying, torturing the Ravenclaw. The blue-eyed girl got out the sword of hers. She didn't know where it actually came from, she didn't really care either. Pointing it toward Hermione, they both faced off for a more physical fight.

A silent sign signalled the start of the match. Both starting out with punches, Hermione's being an uppercut and Cho's a side punch. Both connected but as they went for their second hits, the chime of the doorbell came echoing through the house.

The battle stopped abruptly, with the both of them landing in a tangled mess from their excess momentum. "Okay what exactly was that?" Cho groaned out. 

"Damned doorbell…" Hermione muttered out, trying to get her arm from under Cho's leg. "Gerrofa me!" She stood up, albeit awkwardly toward the main door Cho following closely behind her. Chang's anger was temporarily forgotten in the confusion and well, tangle. 'Wonder who…' She thought before she heard a frightened 'TuWOO!' From behind her. 

Cho looked back to see a REALLY small owl(?) backing off from a prowling tiger, well, Crookshanks. "What the…?" She said but Hermione beat her to it (yet again). Sighing dejectedly, she went to answer the door.

"Crookshanks! No! You do not eat Ron's owl!" She cried. The cat had begun clawing fiercely at both girl and bird. Pigwidgeon being already frightened flew up and out of their reach. "Great! She murmured under her breath, releasing the cat from her grasp. Those two haven't been the best of friends ever since Pig nipped her tail mistaking it for some kind of sausage.

"TuWoo!" was the only thing the euphoric owl could say. It began its classic 'dance of hyperactiveness' as Harry had dubbed it. Around and around the chandelier it went, around, left right and _out_ of the room. 

"Pig…"She sighed with defeat. That hyperactive furry tennis ball of an owl always gave her trouble. Never letting her catch him easily. And then, that nut brained owl, euphoric from successfully finding the right house, pumped up with bird-type adrenaline always expects some kind of snack. She knew that Ron was poor but couldn't he use other than Pig? Errol might not be up to long journeys but couldn't he use Percy's owl instead?

"Pig! Come down here!" Hermione shouted, It was futile of course. Ping never listens to her. "Come on, Pig! I don't have time to play!" She shouted again, exasperated. 'Of all the times…' She looked for some kind of net to catch that miniature owl. Of course, the things that you urgently need are never there. Therefore she had to catch the irritating bird herself.

"TuWOO!" Pig hooted before exiting the kitchen into the dining room. He seemed to hover about for a bit, cautious or a particular overgrown cat. Then he began fluttering in that feather-brained way of his. 'That human no chance of catching me now!' He thought as he fluttered close to the ceiling.

"Pig…come on! I've got a cookie for you!" Pig ignored her. "Pigwidgeon!" She shouted again, chasing the owl which had now exited the room into the study room. 'Damn owl. I wish I can just shoot that thing!'

Cho was letting the stranger in to the living room when, suddenly a flying tennis ball and a green and brown streak went pass her. "What the…?" She looked down the hall. Hermione was chasing something, shouting "PIG!" and several death threats. Then suddenly they turned. Cho and the visitor quickly got out of the way. A "TuWOO!" and "PIG!" later, both guests politely ignored her.

Hermione was getting more and more irritated at the owl. The letter was here 10 mins ago but she still couldn't read it because of that stupid thing. She had a visitor and both guests were waiting.. '_Just this moronic detail to take care of.'_

Pig seemed to be hovering, hesitating , staring down at something. She used this advantage Pig was still high up, so using the couch as a spring board, she leapt at the owl with a simple levitating spell helping her. She grabbed the tiny owl which gave a surprised "Tuwoo?!?" What goes up must come down, so with her momentum gone and her reaching the apex of her jump, she began falling and falling. Now for her, jumping down from 12 feet is no problem, broken bones can be set easily. The only problem was the one-seater in the way.

Crash!

Hermione laid on the floor awkwardly, right hand still clutching the sweatdropping Pig. "Okay… That wasn't the smartest thing to do. That was something Fred or Uncle Duo would've done." She checked herself. 'Nothing broken. Good. Can't say much about the chair though…' True enough, the chair had gone to furniture heaven, with all but one leg broken and the back cracked. Pig was trying very hard to escape from her grasp. Frantic "Tuwoo"s came from him as if frightened. "Hn?" A small growl of a cat came behind her. 'Oh no, Crookshanks.'

Sure enough, the ginger coloured cat was ready to pounce on the helpless Pig. She may not like Pig but it had no right to die mauled by a miniature tiger. She untied the letter from Pig's leg. The letter immediately enlarged. Pig couldn't carry such big things. As she was letting Pig go, Crookshanks pounced. Pig fled. "No, Crookshanks! No!" Hermione tried to intervene but Crookshanks had used her as a platform, thumping down on her and Pig. Both of them started to fight on top of her back.

Back at the living room, Cho ignored the painful shrieks and screams from somewhere around the house. She focused on the newcomer. She had short brown hair with weird fringe tilting toward the side. Her eyes were green and judging form the many layers of clothes the girl wore, Cho assumed she wasn't from a temperate country. 

"Shouldn't we help her? I'm here to see her after all." The obviously younger girl asked worriedly. 

"Nah, don't worry too much about her. She's strong enough to get through this simple mess." Cho answered. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously "What's your name and purpose again?"

"My name is Maria Barton, daughter of Trowa Barton one of the gundam pilots." She took out a picture. Cho gasped. The picture contained her father and 4 other people, 20 years younger! She had the same picture too. "If I may assume you are the daughter of Chang Wufei, are you not?"

"What do you really want?"

"My father said to seek out the other families if he were to be called on again. Especially if he didn't come back when he said he would." Cho nodded in acknowledgement. "You've heard of your parents' disappearance, have you?" Again she nodded. "I have a way to find them."

TBC

A/N: Does that seem incomplete? I seem to have encountered a kind of writer's block that makes me follow my original story instead the new version. Sigh…Please review!!!!


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